Shopping With the Bananas
by Lucid Dreamer
Summary: The Brotherhood have a run in at the mall with Scott and Rogue. Hope you enjoy, it'll be my last fic for a while.


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Shopping With the Bananas

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Summary: The Rotten Bananas/Brotherhood are at the mall and do a little bit of shopping. And run into some of the X-Men along the way, namely Scott and Rogue since they're the only kids left in the house.

A/N: This takes a little part of my last fic, Angels Among Us. And my fic where the Brotherhood sing, but whatever, it's not anything big. Lyrics borrowed from Deep Blue Something.

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_You say that we've got nothing in common   
No common ground to start from   
And we're falling apart   
You'll say the world has come between us   
Our lives have come between us   
But I know you just don't care   
  
And I said what about "Breakfast at Tiffany's?"  
She said, "I think I remember the film,   
And as I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it."   
And I said, "Well, that's the one thing we've got." _

And I said what about "Breakfast at Tiffany's?"   
She said, "I think I remember the film,   
And as I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it."   
And I said, "Well, that's the one thing we've got." 

And I said what about "Breakfast at Tiffany's?"   
She said, "I think I remember the film,   
And as I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it."   
And I said, "Well, that's the one thing we've got." 

Lance stopped singing and let the guys finish off, then winked at the girls who were waiting for the song to finish so they could start screaming. It was all rather amusing, actually. Karen, a girl from school, had told her father, the manager at the mall, about The Rotten Bananas and convinced him to give them a shot at being the holiday entertainment for at least a week. The mention of $400 dollars per day sounded great, which meant that there would at least be heat in the Brotherhood house this Christmas. Or at least they wouldn't have to steal presents; and it felt good to actually have earned the money to buy each other gifts.

The best part was, they still didn't have to buy their instruments, which were all on loan from a shop. Actually, the mall had turned them into living, singing advertisements. Plus, the gang were modeling clothes ranging from Banana Republic (Pietro) to the army surplus store (Fred), which they got to keep when the day was over.

When the rest of the group stopped playing, a mob girls and guys rushed the playing area in order to get autographs, dates & phone numbers, to talk & scream & flirt and give them congratulations. But the Brotherhood had different ideas. "Scraaaammble!" Fred shouted as Todd sprung over his shoulders, and followed the young boy as quickly as he could.

Unfortunately, Tabitha hadn't been so lucky. She had quickly been surrounded in a sea of fans; from his vantage point, he saw the futility in trying to help his friend. Besides, he was more worried about himself as 10 very pretty girls turned on him. They were cute, that was not to be denied, but the last thing he needed were raving lunatics scrambling to tear his clothes off. He whipped his drumsticks towards the mass of women, momentarily caught up in fighting each other for the sticks, and prepared to leave. Surprisingly enough, the quick one could see no sign of Lance. And he thought _he_ was supposed to be the one with super speed.

As Pietro waded through the crowd of customers, two strong hands immediately latched onto his arm and pulled him into a record store. "Are they gone?" It was Lance, hidden behind a cardboard cutout.

He raised a brow as he eyed his brown haired friend, "Uhh…. Yeah. And you know what Lance?"

"What?"

"You can let go of me."

"Oh. Right." Lance's eyes shifted from his friend to the walkways, wary of giggling, bubbling girls looking for a date, then dropped his hands back to his side.

Pietro smiled and patted Lance on the head. "Good boy. Now I'm gonna get the hell out of here. I've got a little shopping to do, and some actual money to do it with." Pietro rubbed his hands together, thinking about a few stores he could hit.

"Hey man, you wanna go run around with me? I doubt we're gonna find Todd or Fred, as amazing as it is to miss him."

"And watch you pick out gifts for your little Kitty all day? Forget it."

"But- OW!" Lance had barely said the first word before he felt Pietro's hand whip against the side of his head.

"Get her a pair of earrings, girls like that junk. White gold. Not too expensive, we still have to eat. But not too cheap, the last thing we need is you to try apologizing by joining those geeks. _Again._"

"Well- OW!" This was getting annoying.

"Earrings. White gold. And pick up something for me while you're at it. I love presents." Pietro clicked at him, then ran off.

__

Of course you do, ego-maniac. Lance shook his head, then proceeded to the closest jewelry store.

**********

"Hey, move it, you're taking up too much room!"

"What are you talking about yo? You're the one that's 8 feet wide."

"Toad! Your foot's on my ankle."

"Your ankle's on my foot! Say cheese."

"Cheez!"

Both boys smiled, stuck their tongues out and generally made a bunch of goofy faces as the picture booth started taking pictures, the flash shining underneath the small, black curtain. As they exited, the saw a pair of familiar faces split off from one another. One might argue if they were fortunate - or unfortunate- to get this half of the friends.

"Well, looky what we have here."

"It's a blind man, yo, but he shouldn't be walking around with a cane or a doggie."

"Yeah. He might walk into a puddle of slime." Fred turned to the small boy, and they both nodded their heads. Well, it's a good idea as any.

Todd leaned out of the booth, and projected a large amount of greenish fluid in front of Scott Summers' path, which the boy promptly stepped in. Then slipped and fell. And got his pretty little sweater all sticky.

As Scott looked dejectedly at the slimy little coating he had on his favorite (and I do mean favorite, he always wears it), and the thought hit him. _Slime. Toad. Slime from Toad._ The boy looked around for a few seconds, but failed to notice that anything was amiss, especially the muffled laughter from inside a photo booth. He sighed and continued on to the bathroom, to try and remove the gunk on his clothing.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Fred and Todd burst out laughing, then fell out of the booth, and onto the ground.

They picked themselves off of the floor as soon as a trio of girls they had recognized came by. The three quickly offered to treat them to ice cream, so how could they refuse? Besides, they were cute.

Todd grabbed the finished pictures as the five made their way to the food court.

**********

Pietro stared at the girl's back when he entered the video store, or her back_side_ rather. She was leaning down to eye one of the lower racks, leaving her legs and butt, snugly fit into a pair of jeans, in full view of the white-haired youth. He grinned as his eyes traveled up her lavender colored jacket to her short brown hair. _With an ass like that, the rest of her has **got** to be hot!_

The boy moved to her side, casually looking at the smooth skin on the exposed part of her neck. "Scary Movie 2's _kinda_ funny, but pretty lame. Just another director's spoof on various films in order to cash in on twisting the plots and stories of other, more talented writers. Legally Blonde is _actually_ a good movie, just as long as you don't tell your friends that."

The girl's head rose slightly as she spoke, "Yah know, Ah thought wouldn't like those kinds of - you!" Rogue cried out in surprise as soon as she found out who she was talking to.

"Ack! Can't I go anywhere without running into you and your nerdy little friends?"

"What?! You're the one who came in and started hitting on me!"

"I was just trying to help out a fellow customer."

"Yah were _trying_ to get a date."

He shrugged. "So? It's not my fault you're hot. Your personality could use a little work, though." _Oh god, I just called her hot._

He just called me hot! Wait, personality? "This from the ego maniac. Next time yah wanna pick up girls, use another line. That one ain't workin'."

"Oh, I could have gotten you, believe me. It's just that… you're you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Does traitor mean anything to you? Or rude, insulting, isolationist bitch?"

"What?"

"Come on Roguey… when did you _ever_ hang out with me or the guys just to have fun? I'll tell you: never. You just shut yourself in your room, or went off somewhere to read some book. Namely with those X-Geeks."

Rogue isolated herself for her own reasons, namely being it was hard to have fun when you have powers like hers. Or a radically different attitude than those around you. But she did kind of like the Brotherhood guys, every once in a while, even if she wouldn't say so. She didn't want to be thought of that way, but it was hard to avoid it. She could have explained herself, right there, in front the person she had gotten to know the least while in the Brotherhood. She could have, even though something more angry slipped out. "Better than hanging out with any of you losers!"

In truth, she had wanted to say all those things, give reasons for her leaving, for her separation. But Pietro's words had stung, more than either of them had expected, or probably wanted. It could have been the holidays with no family making her feel lousy, or the fact that Magneto's memories of Pietro were surfacing, but she felt the hurt. Rogue clenched her fists, nearing the verge of tears.

"Whoa, hey." The speedster broke her concentration. "No need to cry, I thought we were just trading insults here."

Rogue shook her head and turned away from him. Maybe not looking at him would make it easier to stop the tears. Or let them go.

__

I wonder why she's crying? I didn't do anything **that** bad. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I wasn't trying to make you cry, you know." Tentatively, he placed hand on Rogue's shoulder, which she made no effort to remove.

"Ah… Just leave me alone Pietro." She buried her face within her hands, willing the tears not to spill onto her cheeks.

"Uh, I'm really sorry about this."

She turned, enough so that she was facing Pietro once again and moved aside her hands so he could see her. "Ah just didn't think anyone actually thought about me like that."

He looked into her big green eyes, moist from fresh tears and felt so sad for being so stupid. "I don't, really. None of us do. I'm just a little frustrated about everyone who's left the team because of a crush on someone."

"Ah, Ah didn't…"

"We all knew about your crush on Summers. Don't worry about it. He's the only moron that didn't notice." Rogue watched the muscles around his jaw tighten as his teeth clenched together, gazing at his face and eyes which would have to be described as sullen.

She blinked and the comment slipped from her tongue, "You liked me." Rogue looked up, into his downcast eyes, watching the boy try to avoid her gaze. "You still like me."

He tried to back away, but found a firm grip on his sweater. Even though it would take no more than a unnaturally fast step to break it, he found himself not wanting to. So he merely closed his eyes, and took a step forward.

"Pietro…" the brown haired girl found herself at a lost of words. Face now streaked with tears, her small, gloved hand came against the side of a face that belonged to a boy she had never treated with anything but contempt. And it was a pretty face, which looked vulnerable, for the first time since she met him.

A tear escaped his lashes, forced from his violently shut eyes, quickly brushed away by Rogue's thumb. "I'm so sorry, I was out of line, I didn't _mean_ it." He captured the girl in his arms, complete disregard for the danger if their faces managed to touch. All he knew was that he had to hold her, that he _wanted_ to hold her. And that she was letting him.

Where Pietro's embrace was rough and firm, Rogue simply held herself against the white-haired boy, arms softly drawn around him. It felt good, it really did. Enough to not want to let go, enough for Rogue to rest her cheek against Pietro's chest, snug in a pile of muscle and cashmere. Her whisper came so soft, muffled by clothing, but he heard it nonetheless. "It's okay….… ah forgive you."

Pietro sighed and breathed in a huff of air, thoroughly scented by the sweet smell of Rogue's hair. Clean, and warm. Unmistakable. His hand traveled over her soft tresses, fingertips exploring each strand as he held her in his arms.

**********

With a small mix of sadness and jealousy, Scott Summers walked out of the video store, holding a small bag in his hand. His tinted searched for anywhere to be but there, not wanting to see _them_. Unfortunately, another sight had come to his attention.

"Aww, what's the matter Mr. Terrific get his credit card denied?"

"Haha, good one yo."

"Yeah!" The Blob continued. "And, uhh, that was a good one Lance."

Tabitha, the most reasonable (as oddly as that seems), took stock of Scott's expression. "Hey, what's up Scooter? Not like you to keep quiet like that."

"I don't think you wanna go in there." Cyclops quickly left the Brotherhood behind, without need to observe their reactions. He knew well enough what they would think, even if his thoughts were on a different level.

__

What the?

Is that who I think it is?

Almost enough to make me forget my appetite.

They're kinda cute. But **that** was unexpected.

Lance, Tabby, Fred & Toad looked on with wide eyes and open mouths at the cozy pair, who stood apart from the rush and the clamor of Christmas shopping. Who seemed to hold onto each other for dear life, derived of want and need.

The white hair of both were unmistakable.

Lance who could understand the action more fully than his friends, broke their reverie. "Come on guys, let's give them some privacy."

Naturally, they all wanted to watch, but they followed without protest.

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A/N: Well, that turned out differently than I had expected. This should be my last fic for a while, so don't expect anything from me very soon. My time's gonna be limited real soon, so I won't have much leeway to do anything except check e-mail (so those of you that **_know_** you're supposed to e-mail me, keep in touch).


End file.
